Hi Dr. Dahlquist, I was wondering what your favorite subject in undergraduate biology was? Also, what is some of the research you did in college, and what are you currently working on? [[User:Kasey E. O&#39;Connor|Kasey E. O&#39;Connor]] 21:31, 21 January 2013 (EST)

Hi Dr. Dahlquist, I was wondering what your favorite subject in undergraduate biology was? Also, what is some of the research you did in college, and what are you currently working on? [[User:Kasey E. O&#39;Connor|Kasey E. O&#39;Connor]] 21:31, 21 January 2013 (EST)

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:I was always interested in how cells worked, so the classes that I took related to that were the equivalent of our Cell Function course, Genetics, and Biochemistry. I knew that I was interested in molecular biology, but I didn't actually take a course specifically in that until graduate school

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:In college, I worked in a plant physiology lab that was studying photosystem II in chloroplasts. My advisor had discovered that some peripheral membrane proteins in photosystem II dissociated from the membrane during heat stress in wheat. I was studying a strain of the ''Clorella pyrenoidosa'' algae that could survive at high temperatures to see whether these proteins stayed associated with the membrane. My experiments suggested that they did, but we were not able to prove it definitively because we were having trouble purifying thylakoid membranes from the algae.

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:My current research projects are listed in the answer to James' question.

Revision as of 20:27, 24 January 2013

Hey Dr. Dahlquist, did you ever consider medical school? What made you choose the research path?
Kevin Matthew McKay 20:34, 17 January 2013 (EST)

I didn't consider medical school. I'm actually pretty squeamish and have fainted at the sight of blood. My parents instilled in me a love of science by giving me lots of educational opportunities when I was a kid. I really loved my AP Biology class in high school, which inspired me to become a biology major. I did undergraduate research in a plant physiology lab, which got me interested in research. I also had always wanted to be a teacher because I loved my teachers and loved school when I was a kid. This all came together to choose a profession as a biology professor where I could both teach and do research.

Hi Dr. Dahlquist, I understand that you have a strong background in biology; what led you to have an interest in biomathematics? How has biomathematics helped you to become a better biologist? Thanks, Laura Terada 15:31, 17 January 2013 (EST)

I got interested in biomathematics when I was a postdoc at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease/UCSF. I was working on analyzing data from microarrays and it became really clear that I needed to learn statistics in order to analyze the data properly. We were also working on visualizing the data on biological pathways. I got started in modeling because I wanted to have a more quantitative model of the data we were visualizing on pathways. The biomathematics has helped me become a better biologist because I am able to perform a more robust analysis of quantitative data. I feel that I have a "leg up" on other biologists who do not do this type of analysis.

Hi Dr. Dahlquist, I was wondering what your favorite subject in undergraduate biology was? Also, what is some of the research you did in college, and what are you currently working on? Kasey E. O'Connor 21:31, 21 January 2013 (EST)

I was always interested in how cells worked, so the classes that I took related to that were the equivalent of our Cell Function course, Genetics, and Biochemistry. I knew that I was interested in molecular biology, but I didn't actually take a course specifically in that until graduate school

In college, I worked in a plant physiology lab that was studying photosystem II in chloroplasts. My advisor had discovered that some peripheral membrane proteins in photosystem II dissociated from the membrane during heat stress in wheat. I was studying a strain of the Clorella pyrenoidosa algae that could survive at high temperatures to see whether these proteins stayed associated with the membrane. My experiments suggested that they did, but we were not able to prove it definitively because we were having trouble purifying thylakoid membranes from the algae.

My current research projects are listed in the answer to James' question.